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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25165645">The Meter's Running</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/colisahotnorthernmess/pseuds/colisahotnorthernmess'>colisahotnorthernmess</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Broadchurch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alec's leaving and Ellie can't bear it, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Ficlet, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Light Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:21:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>586</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25165645</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/colisahotnorthernmess/pseuds/colisahotnorthernmess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A small ficlet set at the end of the second series (so, please note - spoilers), where Alec is preparing to leave Broadchurch and Ellie realises she can't let go of the one good thing to come into her life of late. A thank you and a handshake could never be the end.</p><p>Some bittersweet fluff for Hardy and Miller, because they're adorable.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Meter's Running</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A handshake. A <em>bloody</em> handshake. Was that the <em>best</em> she could do?</p><p>In all honesty, it probably was. Given the court case, she was highly emotional and hardly thinking straight - a hug would have surely seen her sobbing into the shoulder of his suit jacket, and she knew that. He said his taxi would take half an hour, but she knew that company well - if they weren't busy, and they rarely <em>were</em> - they'd be here in ten minutes or so, and her chance to say what she wanted to say would be over. 'Time's up,' she thought to herself. Up until now, everything else had been a distraction, preventing her from thinking of this moment; today, there was nothing else to discuss other than Hardy's imminent departure.</p><p>"Look after yourself, Miller," had been the last thing he'd uttered, before exiting the cosy little beach hut - a home they had shared of late; the place where they had cracked the Sandbrook case together. No longer were the pale-blue wood-clad walls littered with articles and pictures from the investigation. Nor were there any of Alec's personal effects, though there hadn't been many to begin with, cluttering the place up - it was completely bare.</p><p>She didn't have much time to think about what was happening - and, with everything she'd had to deal with lately, much space in her head to consider the implications of what she was about to do. It was impulsive, granted, but there was a voice in the back of her mind screaming incessantly, and increasing in volume with every second - howling, crying out to her that her life simply <em>needed</em> to have Alec in it. Suddenly, she dashed out of the house and threw herself at him - having bolted from the door so quickly, she misjudged her speed, and almost stumbled.</p><p>"Alec, please don't leave," she panted, gulping for air, as she crashed into him, the impact pushing him back several steps.</p><p>"Careful, Miller - you nearly had me in the bloody sea," he said, calmly and at odds with his words, in his slow Scottish drawl.</p><p>"I'm sorry. It's just that you can't--" Her sentence was abruptly halted by Hardy's lips - but not in the way she was used to, with him interrupting her with a snappy 'Come on' or a curt 'Stop being ridiculous, Miller'; Hardy had put a stop to her speech with his <em>kiss</em>, and not his rude ways as <em>usual</em>. And his lips - unlike the rest of his tired, drawn face, with its ever-worn expression - were soft, gentle and loving - and, somehow, more compliments seemed to spill out of them now than they ever did when he was talking. Ellie found herself gasping as he moved away from her. She had barely just gotten her breath back when he'd gone in for the kiss.</p><p>"Can't go?" Alec queried. "Why? Don't you want me to?" He tenderly placed his hand on her shoulder, the stiff fabric of her orange windbreaker anorak rustling under the touch of his fingers as he squeezed.</p><p>"Isn't it obvious, you prick?" she couldn't help but bite back.</p><p>A taxi could be heard pulling up on the road, with the muffled sound of tyres squealing as it braked. The driver beeped his horn to let the pair of them know that he was here.</p><p>"Aye. But I wanted to hear you say it, didn't I?" Hardy smirked, choosing to drop his bags to the ground right where he stood, "You know how I always like to be sure."</p>
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